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The Columbus Blue Jackets signed Brandon Dubinsky to a long-term contract earlier this year, but they still have another potential unrestricted free agent to take care of.
That player is the vastly underrated Nick Foligno, who is off to an incredible start to the season skating on the top line with Ryan Johansen and Cam Atkinson.
Through five games Foligno has two goals and seven points while owning a 60.61 Corsi For%, which ranks 2nd on the team among forwards and 3rd overall.
While it's unlikely that he'll continue to produce at this rate, he has quietly become a very good two-way forward over the years and is a very important member of this team.
From 2012-14 Foligno is 94th in points/60 among forwards with at least 1250 minutes played at 5 vs 5 in that span.
Foligno's averaged 1.76 points/60, which falls just short of Alex Ovechkin (1.81), Patrick Marleau (1.80) and Nicklas Backstrom (1.78), while those totals are better than that of Ryan Johansen (1.74), Mike Cammalleri (1.71), and Jeff Skinnner (1.68) to name a few.
94th doesn't seem like a high number, but there are 180 NHL players playing top-6 minutes so those totals suggest there's little doubt he is effective in that role.
He tallied 18 goals and 39 points in 70 games last season, which prorated is 20+ goals and 46 points.
Foligno's hot start puts him in a position to blow by those totals, and at no better time than in a contract year.
Whether he stays in Columbus or tests free agency he's going to land a pretty nice contract, but his numbers suggest he's probably going to be worth it.
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